


scripted

by orphan_account



Category: The Magnus Archives (Podcast)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, M/M, Other, Soulmate-Identifying Marks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-20
Updated: 2018-02-20
Packaged: 2019-03-21 21:13:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 666
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13749354
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: When you meet a soulmate, their name appears on your skin. Or the… best approximation of their name available.





	scripted

**Author's Note:**

> this was supposed to be more jon/michael/elias than 'jon/elias with references to jon/michael' but WHATEVER, HERE IT IS

“This is ridiculous, Jon. That thing does not _have_ soulmates, you cannot even be _considering_ that it's yours.”

Jon shifts uncomfortably in his chair, wondering if with enough work he can make it swallow him whole. Or the earth, for that matter. It might, he thinks, be preferable than showing Elias what proof - not conclusive, but certainly… convincing - he has of his theory. When Elias just keeps standing there, biting out a _well?_ when Jon doesn't say anything, Jon sighs and reaches up to unbutton his shirt.

Elias doesn't say anything, just stands there and waits expectantly while Jon strips his top half.

He shows Elias his own name first; some kind of half-instinctive attempt at reassurance, holding out his forearm and showing Elias the elegant looping script _Elias Bouchard_ that sits stark along the inside of it. It seems to work, at least a little, because Elias’ stance loosens at the sight of it.

That only lasts until Jon stands, turns, and shows him the newest mark, this one over the small of his back. The position is why he’d gone so long without noticing it; he’s not one to examine himself in the mirror as a general rule, and it’s not like soulmarks are particularly large.

It’s contained to the same kind of size as a normal soulmark, but it's definitely not a name. Or at least not one that Jon can perceive; it twists and turns in odd, wandering curves and spirals, and he knows that any attempt to follow the lines just _doesn't work_ , and it's— it's definitely a soulmark, and it's definitely not linked to anything human, and Jon is almost certain that it _has_ to be linked to Michael.

When he looks back over his shoulder, Elias is standing rigid and, given the look on his face, Jon’s reasonably sure he’s come to the same conclusion.

“…only you, Jon,” Elias mutters, gesturing for Jon to put his shirt back on. Jon does so, but once he’s sat back down he rolls up the relevant sleeve to leave Elias’ name bared; it’s supposed to be relaxing, and Elias usually reacts like it is, so it seems… called-for, right now.

(he wonders, vaguely, how Michael would react to seeing the mark on his back - laughter, he expects, and a headache for Jon in the process)

Elias moves, then, pulling off his suit jacket and rolling up the sleeve of his own shirt on the opposite side to Jon’s, baring the scratchier script of Jon’s name across his own forearm. He moves around the desk to grasp Jon’s arm, then, spreading his palm over his name and letting Jon do the same in return.

“Gertrude never met any soulmates, you know,” he tells Jon.

It’s not uncommon, really. Almost everyone _has_ several, but meeting even one - picking up even one scrawled name - is rare.

“That’s better for an Archivist,” Elias goes on, stroking his fingers over the soulmark and watching Jon shiver. “Definitely better than picking up marks everywhere you go.”

(Elias knows about the other marks, too: about the careful, rounded letters that loop around his ankle; about the neat, printed letters across his hip that burn sometimes like they’re cut into him)

Elias leans down now and reaches out with his other arm to pull Jon into a proper embrace, holding him there while they keep their marked arms held together. “Both of those will be difficult for you.”

“Probably not as difficult as Michael, at least?” Jon says, trying for a joke and finding himself actually laughing when Elias pulls back and flashes him a deeply offended look, like he’d thank Jon to _not_ remind him that he apparently has to share a soulmate with… whatever Michael is, exactly.

“ _Quite_ ,” Elias agrees with the unspoken thought. He pauses and then adds drily, “I suppose there are worse things you could have ended up marked with. Presumably. I’m sure they’re out there, somewhere, and I’ll think of one of them eventually.”


End file.
